Using a Canon EOS 300D, which I believe is almost the same. (older version)
I started for a long while using it in point and shoot mode with jpg, then moved to my own setting in the AV M settings etc, once I had mastered the camera, in all the above I then started with doing a group of shots in both jpg and raw. played around with them to see exactly the difference I could make with RAW shots, found the Pixemantic package was excellent.

Last 1000 shot's have all been in RAW, I now prefer it. I'm not a pro, just a very keen amateur. Biggest problem with RAW is you need a lot of storage space for the RAW and the product you make from it...

I use the 20D, but the basics are the same. I shoot everything in RAW because it gives you much more ultimate control, especially when you have a large tonal range that you are photographing. I use Photoshop CS2's RAW converter for handling the RAW images as I've found it the fastest of all the workflows (and I've tried them all). I use external hard drives for mass storage so the extra size of RAW is really not a factor anymore. When time permits, I always use Custom white balance as that saves time later in the RAW converter (and you also save data that can be used for something else). I also attempt to expose all shots just as I used to expose slides. You want your exposure right on for digital.